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Macquarie cares about hearing health

With a quarter of Australians set to face serious problems from hearing loss, it’s time for a new awareness campaign…

Today, on World Hearing Day, the Director of Macquarie University’s Australian Hearing Hub
has called on the Federal Government to support a public and GP
awareness campaign to protect Australians from permanent and avoidable
hearing loss.

Director of the Australian Hearing Hub Professor David McAlpine (Photo: Macquarie University)

Globally, 360 million people experience hearing loss and one in six
Australians are currently affected by a hearing impairment, resulting in
a wide range of adverse health, social, and financial impacts.

With this number set to increase to one in four by 2050, Professor David McAlpine, Director of Macquarie University’s Australian Hearing Hub, says we should stop treating our hearing like a second-class sense.

“Hearing loss has a profound impact on the lives, employment, and finances of many Australians,” Professor McAlpine said.

“When you add in the costs to relationships, performance at work, and
impacts to health, there is an urgent need for more Australians to know
about the risks and have their hearing checked more often.

“Most Australians are unaware of the permanent damage even social
noise can do to them, with studies showing a 25 decibel rise, indicating
a mild hearing loss, can correlate to a seven year cognitive decline.

“We need a national hearing awareness campaign now to protect more
Australians, similar to those that have helped many people quit smoking,
avoid the sun, and practice safe sex.”

Professor McAlpine says a campaign should focus on three main
pillars: raising awareness, prevention and regular check-ups, with
support for GPs to assist patients. The approach parallels that of the
World Health Organization, which recently highlighted the need for a
renewed global resolution on the prevention of hearing loss, with the
last resolution occurring over 20 years ago in 1995, focusing on
awareness and action.

“Most Australians are completely unaware of the hearing damage they
may be experiencing in everyday life, let alone the importance of
getting their hearing checked regularly,” Professor McAlpine said.

“Exacerbating the issue is that most healthcare workers are not
currently required to inquire about a patient’s hearing health, whereas
eye testing is more actively encouraged.”

“Around 4 million Australians are affected by hearing impairment,
with a reported $11 billion cost annually to the Australian economy, not
to mention the fact that hearing-loss is known to exacerbate a person’s
other existing health conditions,” Professor McAlpine explained.

As the World Health Organization campaigns to raise global awareness
of hearing impairment and prevention of hearing loss in ‘children of the
world’ during World Hearing Day this year, Professor McAlpine says it
is also vital for Australians to remember that this is an issue
affecting people of all ages, and that hearing and communication
solutions can be tailored to individual need.

Professor McAlpine is the head of Macquarie Hearing Hub—whose
members include Cochlear Limited, Australian Hearing, National
Acoustics Laboratory, Royal Institute for Deaf and Blind Children
(RIDBC) and its associated cochlear-implant service, Sydney Cochlear
Implant Centre (SCIC), The Shepherd Centre, The HEARing CRC, and The ARC
Centre of Excellence in Cognition and its Disorders (CCD).

Members of the Hub work together and with other hearing health
organisations to promote better hearing health and access to hearing
solutions for all Australians in need.

Study audiology at Macquarie University

The Master of Clinical Audiology program at Macquarie University Audiology School
is dedicated to preparing students to become professional audiologists.
The university’s audiology program provides supervised clinical
placements to hone its students’ professional skills. As well, numerous
modules of scientific coursework allow students to learn the scientific
fundamentals of audiology and understand the processes that contribute to congenital or acquired hearing loss and vestibular dysfunctions.

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